Mrs Sharon Stephens reports on our award winning Orchestra and Chamber Music groups.

HBHS/HGHS Orchestra 2023

This year has been one of strong growth for the combined HBHS/HGHS Orchestra. Some welcome stability in rehearsal capacity has allowed for very dedicated practice of specific musical goals and every member of the group has had the opportunity to shine.

The first performance for the year was at the Waikato Itinerant Music Festival held on the 25th of August. It was inspiring to be back in the beautiful Concert Chamber at the Gallagher Academy of Performing Arts, University of Waikato. This festival is an important annual event not only to allow performance alongside other Waikato/Bay of Plenty groups, but also to receive feedback from an adjudicator – this year a professional conductor and violist. The orchestra worked as a strong team with excellent focus and attention to detail, and was awarded Gold.

The second concert was a brand-new experience, with the school taking four performing groups to the MusicWorks Ensemble Festival Aotearoa (MEFA). We boarded the bus early on Monday the 18th of September and headed to Wellington. The event started with inspirational performances from the Christchurch Youth Orchestra and New Zealand Navy Band. Tuesday was a big day with workshops for both individual players and groups. The orchestra was lucky to have a session with Cheryl Hollinger, a professional trumpet player from the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. This workshop consolidated many of the goals worked on during the year. The orchestra then had a 20-minute performance slot in the afternoon and received high praise from the adjudicator, again being awarded Gold.

The last performance of the year saw the Orchestra opening the HBHS Arts Awards. It was special to finally present our repertoire to the school community and whānau. Well done to all students for their contribution to what has been a most successful year of music-making.

With only six students across Years 12 and 13, the Orchestra has the luxury of some player stability and great opportunity for further growth. It is always sad to farewell the Year 13 students and we would like to make special mention to our departing Year 13’s – Ravi Jatania, Eila Posimani-McCay and Bella Pye. Thank you for your huge contribution to the music scene over your time with the orchestra. We will miss you!

Chamber Music at HBHS in 2023 Hits High Notes!

The HBHS Chamber Music Programme has had another very successful year, with new instrumentation leading to fresh repertoire and new challenges. All students involved have spent many hours rehearsing and have made huge progress in their growth as chamber musicians.

Tritones, our premier piano trio, welcomed Year 11 Matthew Colvin on clarinet, adding a completely different tone colour as replacement for the more traditional cello role. Alongside Kevin Li (piano) and Daniel Loy (violin), they were once again the champion group at the Waikato District round of the National Chamber Music Contest held at the University of Waikato on Wednesday the 7th of June. This is the third consecutive year that the group has taken first prize – an outstanding achievement that recognises their countless hours of preparation both individually and as a group. They tackled perhaps their biggest challenge yet with a work by Khachaturian which demanded new thinking on interpretation and style of playing.

The win gave Tritones direct entry to the Northern Regional Finals held in Auckland on Saturday the 24th of June. They gave their strongest performance and competed stunningly against some of the best musicians in the country. While they did not make the last stage for the National Final (just 8 groups across New Zealand are chosen), they have taken another significant growth step and look forward to aiming high in 2024.

Tritones were also the recipients of the Arnold Trowell Award (open chamber music division) at the Hamilton String Competitions in the July school holidays, again for the third year running. From here they were selected to perform at the annual Competitions Showcase Concert and they enjoyed the opportunity to play alongside some of the region’s brightest talent in the performing arts.

Seitz Readers, our piano quartet which was formed late in 2022, also received high recognition for their performance of a work by Friedrich Seitz at the Waikato District contest, taking one of the few Highly Commended Awards (the contest does not award runner-up prizes). Congratulations to John Huang (piano), Amos Robinson (cello) and William Zhang and Samuel Xia (violin) on their achievement both on stage, and in the degree of growth as chamber musicians in such a short time.